Two women deliver outside government health centre in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Sep 4 (IANS) A day after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court pulled up the state medical authorities for their failure to provide care to two pregnant Dalit women forcing them to deliver outside a community health centre, two more cases were reported here Wednesday night.Meena Devi, 23, and Sheela Rawat, 28, reportedly delivered outside a community health centre (CHC) in Nagram locality here as the CHC was locked.

Family members of both the women said they created a makeshift room for the deliveries hanging bedsheets around with the help of some Asha volunteers (Accredited Social Health Activists). It was only after protest by the locals, two doctors arrived an hour later and admitted the two women, the family members alleged.

When contacted, Lucknow chief medical officer A.K. Shukla said an inquiry has already been ordered into the incident and refused to comment further.

Another woman, Sarvesh Kumari, reportedly delivered a baby on the roadside near the Gosainganj Community Health Centre. she was admitted to the centre in an advanced stage of pregnancy June 29. But the CHC staff had referred her to some other hospital.

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had pulled up the state health authorities during the hearing of a writ petition filed by a staff nurse of Gosainganj CHC Shakuntala Devi challenging her suspension order on July 2 in the Sarvesh Kumari incident.